Any sane human won't take a crowbar and kill all his friends cause he saw in HL2 that crowbars are weapons of mass destruction. The people that do such things are mentally insane and not video games are to blame like mass media wants us to believe.

About MW2 airport scene. Those HUMANS are NOT HUMANS. They are PIXELS. A bunch of pixels. I'm aware that little children play those games but those children get their money to buy the game from their parents, who then blame the game when their kid goes rampage. And the game asks you nicely if you are offended by such scenes. Is not like "ZOMG I never expected such horrifying scene".I wonder why they rate the games anyway.

I don't see any time soon a change in how things are viewed. Maybe because the current gaming generation hasn't reached a certain age ("mom doesn't know how to open computer and panics at windows error sound. Probably hearth attack at BSOD" kind of thing)

So in other words, Wii is going to show people that video games don't turn you into murdering psychopaths.

Yeah, duh. In 10 years we won't find anyone suing a single game for having violence. Currently, the medium is still relatively young, and a lot of people don't have a clue what it's all about, so when an attention whore comes in with a lawsuit, they follow. But it's just a matter of time until people get over it.

This is a good thing, though. Since there will undoubtedly be people saying that (like those who protested MadWorld for the Wii because it was on the Wii), all that's needed will be to show them these games.

Populus89:So in other words, Wii is going to show people that video games don't turn you into murdering psychopaths.

Yeah, duh. In 10 years we won't find anyone suing a single game for having violence. Currently, the medium is still relatively young, and a lot of people don't have a clue what it's all about, so when an attention whore comes in with a lawsuit, they follow. But it's just a matter of time until people get over it.

the "problem": people associate video games with children and teens. And children and teens shouldn't be exposed to sex,violence and stuff like that.

the faulty logic behind the problem: OH,C'MON! We live in the digital era - Internet has tons of free porn, that is as easy accessible as checking your mail (even with less clicks!). It's not good, but the kids are exposed to nudity, violence and all that stuff all the time.

conclusion: there is no problem. We should all stop being so paranoid and all the politics should understand, that the election campaign is over! The movies show tons of graphical violence, that video games are trying to achieve. "GTA made me do ti" - yeah,right! The truth is most people just can't understand, that video games aren't only for kids - and even so, every game has a rating: it's all the parents fault for letting their kids play such games. And the parents blame the video game industry, because they fail to do their job of being a parent!

Don't think of them as "casual gamers". Think of them as "people who are no longer going to blame and ban videogames."

That's actually a very good outlook on it, to be honest.

Also, I am one of those people who has witnessed an older person trying to learn how to play a modern action game. Namely, my dad trying to play Resident Evil 4. It was horrific. He's gotten much better now, but he still needs to ask me for help on the boulder escape QTEs.

Possibly more-so because when I was much younger, he used to kick my ass on the James Bond game multiplayers. I can't even begin to imagine how I used to be that bad.

The Wii does not sell millions of action FPS games for the most part. The PS3 and 360 do. That is were the money is for publishers and that is where it will stay.

As for other games I am happy for all the gamers who love the Wii because they can't handle the PS3 or 360. Props to them.

But the savior of the hardcore games is and always be Sony, Microsoft, and all PC game publishers. Besides of course Nintendo and their first party line up. But that is a given. We all know how well third party games sell on the Wii. It is basically a joke.

My parents are very anti-game, they watched the opening of Gameswipe with me - as i was trying to explain not all games are absurdly violent and the ones that are normally have a reason for it, or at least a cracking story. Then clips of the new Wolfestein appeared and i was made the fool.

I remember my dad claiming after watching the news on the 3rd December that GTA IV will never enter "His house".

The next week or so he came upstairs and sat down and watched my brother drive some car around NY. And then he said "Run her over", music to my ears. Okay, he was a tad drunk at the time, but if he had researched the game beore making his claim he would have realised i had it in my room, no?

I actually referenced that video in a recent blog post (that also, uh, referenced you :) ) as part of my own "more gamers is better" argument.

I don't think these trends will ever save us from game-specific controversies - I mean, people have pretty well come to accept books in the mainstream but there was still a Harry Potter controversy. But getting past the demonization of the medium as a whole would still be great.

I really liked your article and I think it raises several good points but I think you might be missing something.

Recent political polling has shown that right now a significant number of people who previously identified as either Republican or Democrat now identify as Independent. Most of these people have the same feelings and preferences they had before they have just chosen a different self identification.

I think the same thing may happen even if millions more people pick up the Wii. People that I have spoken to (understandably a small sample size) frequently resist identifying as a "gamer" even if they play Facebook games, flash games, or Wii games. They see the title "gamer" as only including the "hardcore". Unfortunately many "Hardcore gamers" do the same thing and it continues to widen the gap between the groups.

Please don't misunderstand I am very frustrated with the media and general public using gaming as a whipping boy and I wish people would come together and see gaming as just another hobby. I am just not sure I see it happening any time soon.

Hmm, Shamus it seems that you are arguing against the "nothing can be done" assumption with "nothing needs to be done". The Wii will continue to sell with or without the approval of the hardcore gaming crowd (clearly, it would've died shortly after the release of Brawl otherwise), so this Experienced Point seems to have a lot less editorial in it than normal.

I wonder, how could we as "serious gamers" help the public make the connection between casual "toy" gaming and our "hobby"? Are they connected?

This is a good thing, though. Since there will undoubtedly be people saying that (like those who protested MadWorld for the Wii because it was on the Wii), all that's needed will be to show them these games.

Well there you go, what I thought I was predicting apparently already started. I don't remember outrage over Madworld.

murder_of_raven:I wonder, how could we as "serious gamers" help the public make the connection between casual "toy" gaming and our "hobby"? Are they connected?

I think that is the essential question here. However, I think we need to look at this from both ends. We not only need to convince the non-gaming public to see that connection we also need to convince the "Hardcore/Haxor" gamers to see it too. How can moderate yet serious gamers work to convince "Hardcore/Haxor" gamers that they want to be part of a larger group? How can both sides of this puzzle be brought together?

This is a good thing, though. Since there will undoubtedly be people saying that (like those who protested MadWorld for the Wii because it was on the Wii), all that's needed will be to show them these games.

Well there you go, what I thought I was predicting apparently already started. I don't remember outrage over Madworld.

Wasn't much, was just some group protesting against MadWorld because they thought the Wii was supposed to be 100% family-friendly. Nintendo's (awesome) response was that teens who like ultraviolence have families too.

It's a standard tactic: if you can't beat them, convert them to your side. The more people we turn into gamers the better. Even casual gamers will do.

I also think we need more games that stand out in different ways, which could get gaming some publicity for being unique, thus increasing the positive publicity that gaming gets. Viewed from this perspective, that new heart monitor peripheral Nintendo was developing could be a very good idea. I imagine a game that you have to fool into believing you are telling the truth when you are in fact lying would be worth at least a mention in the general press, and would probably induce some people to look into gaming.

Shamus Young:Now, the cynical answer we get from young people (and from me, when I'm grouchy) is that there's nothing to be done about this. We just have to wait for those people to retire or die.

Grab your guns, we're going to 'speed the process along'....wait...damnit, then they are telling the truth. Curse you logic.

EDIT: You make the comparsion between people who want dramas and so forth, and them not demanding 'something to be done about voilent movies'... I don't know, I've heard plenty of them complaining about voilence and sex on TV.

Here's the difference between No Russian and every scene described in the article.

In No Russian, you are required to participate in civilian massacre. In all the other games, you are not.

It's like the difference between turning on the TV and switch to the history channel about World War 2 versus being locked in a room and strapped to a chair with repeating footage of hostage beheading in Iraq force fed to you.

Surely the World War 2 footage has more killing, but the beheading footage that's forced is much much more "controversial".

Edit: obviously, you could skip No Russian, but since the warning does not specify what is to come, it could easily have been mistaken to ask "do you want to turn off all blood and gore and bullets and explosion in this game" as a parental thing, which is like playing God of War 3 demo blind-folded.

Also, Fox News have welcomed Wii, Obama plays the Wii, but neither of them will approve No Russian. Wii is NOT the gateway drug to understanding hardcore culture. Wii is the pretense of playing games that older people can use to sound "up to date." It's like some white guy who voted for a black guy just to say "hey, I'm not racist."

*blink blink* I don't think of them as casual gamers, as causal gamers are the trendy and posh frat boys and wanna be's who play a few hours a day of their favorite brand of generic swill gaming, those are our casual gamers. The people you describe are non gamers just as people who go to the movies once a year can not be called movie goers or film fans. I am not saying that there is anything bad with being a casual gamer or a non gamer or a fan boy..er elitist bastards(raises hand)...er hard core gamers.. its just we all have our roles.

The zombies mindlessly consume supporting the industry the bastards cry foul for the lack of gameplay,control,qaulity,options,standards and a slew of over issues degrading the industry all the while moaning over the little things and being bemoaned and outcasted while the non gamers rise in numbers dumber and more gullible than any gamer before. Where am I going with my rant....I dunno I am tried, pissed and gaming is growing dumber by the minute in order to play nice with the kids with the soft helmets and drool pans..... *sigh*well I guess that's where the money is.... but its not making me happy...not one bit....

And yes I would rather the industry be 3 times as small, 3 times as costly and be 10 times better in qaulity than what we have not which is 5 times wore in qaulity(albeit graphics are alot better and so are physics when used.....) at 2 or 3 times the cost and it being 5 or 8 times bigger than it was...... were is the progress? the CEOs can cash out millions while we get 1 game every 5 years thats worth while?Oh fuck it......

Someone, maybe you, said something about video games being this century's most important form of entertainment. That being true, it is important to look at how adults looked at past forms of popular entertainment. (Which you also wrote an article on) Video games are getting the heat because they are still considered "kid's toys." Also, older people use the internet, so they know that not everything on there is violence, porn, or violent porn.

We're just going to have to live with this nonsense until video games stop being the cool thing to hate. Even if there are a million studies that show that video games don't promote violence, people won't listen because they want to put the blame somewhere other than their own shoulders.

I won't admit that wii is bad for a hardcore gamer, but it does feel like it's a little harder to grasp that feel. As only a handful of games are really for the hardcore market. It's worth a try before you write if off as a kiddie system.